Captain Tsubasa: Golden Dream (2004)
Captain Tsubasa: Golden Dream (キャプテン翼 GOLDEN DREAM) is a two-part short story released in commemoration of the then-future match between Barcelona and Jubilo Iwata that took place on 2004-08-04 at Shizuoka Stadium as part of Barcelona's Asian tour. It was published after Road to 2002, but before Golden Dream. It is not part of the main canon of the regular series. The first part is 30 pages long while the second is 27 pages. Both parts were published in Shueisha's seinen magazine Weekly Young Jump issues #34 and #35, released with cover dates of 2004-08-05 (on sale 2004-07-22) and 2004-08-12 (on sale 2004-07-29) respectively. Notably, the manga uses real-life celebrities instead of pastiches with different names. The full story was compiled, along with other short stories not related to the main series, in Captain Tsubasa Tanpenshu: Dream Field. Story First chapter FC Barcelona and Jubilo Iwata are going to have a friendly match. Taro Misaki is named captain of Jubilo Iwata. Begiristain, who was a former player of the Urawa Reds and, at the time, is the technical coach of Barcelona, announces Barcelona's Asian Tour in which the team will come to Japan. This marks Tsubasa triumphal return as captain of Barcelona. Meanwhile, it is known that Misaki has received offers from Paris Saint-Germain FC and other foreign clubs, but, before accepting said offers, he wants to win first J. League Division 1 championship. However, Jubilo Iwata was unable to win the 1st stage of J. League Division 1. This makes Misaki wonder what would Tsubasa do with the offers of other teams, whether to accept them or stay to win the 2nd Stage. In Misaki's mind, Jubilo Iwata would've won with Tsubasa, so he realizes that he is still behind Tsubasa, but will not give up until he becomes the best football player in the world. He will test this in the match against Barcelona. Days later, Tsubasa arrives with the rest of Barcelona, which in this story has the real-life players of the time, like Javier Saviola and Ronaldinho. Other real-life celebrities appear in Tsubasa's interview in TBS Super Soccer, hosts Koji Kato and Miho Shiraishi and commentator Takashi Mizunuma. In the interview, Tsubasa declares that he is anxious to seriously play against Misaki, Ishizaki and Urabe. While Jubilo Iwata coach, Takashi Kuwahara has doubts about in which position to use Misaki, Sanae tells the attendants of the welcoming party for Tsubasa from the Nankatsu Middle School that her husband would not be able to attend since he has to prepare for the match. Ishizaki and Urabe, who also studied at Nankatsu, take the chance to ask that they support Jubilo, not Barça and also have Tsubasa via cellphone say some words to the people at the party. This last action backfires as the people start supporting Barça and chastise Ishizaki and Urabe, demanding that they become more like Tsubasa. The day before the match, coach Kuwahara lets Misaki choose the position he wants to play in the match. Tsubasa and Sanae arrive to the house of Tsubasa's parents, where his brother and mother await them. Tsubasa goes around the city, reminiscing the moment where it all started years ago when he challenged Wakabayashi by kicking a ball towards Wakabayashi's house from a hill. He gets surprised when the opposite happens: a ball comes from Genzo's house towards the hill, thrown by Wakabayashi himself, who has returned to Japan to witness the match between Tsubasa and Misaki. Other former members of Nankatsu SC also arrive and call Misaki by phone, who tells Tsubasa that they should play seriously the following day, to which Tsubasa agrees. The following day, Tsubasa and Misaki are in the pre-match walk ready to play. Second chapter The chapter opens with a flashback of the "golden combi" and its achievements as a preface for their first time encounter as rivals in the field. The dream match begins with Jubilo Iwata on the attack. Misaki runs with the balll and appears to send a pass towards Rodrigo Gral or Masashi Nakayama, but it turns out to be his S.S.S. Tsuabasa, however, was prepared for that and successfully defends the goal an starts Barça counter-attack. Barça circulates the ball and Tsubasa gets ready to shoot an overhead kick, but Misaki blocks it. Before the match, Misaki had decided that he would like to try to play all midfield positions that coach Kuwahara was considering, and, thanks to Misaki's abilities to play in combination with anyone, he can do it. As the match plays evenly, both Munemasa Katagiri and Kozo Kira think about the paths that Tsabass and Misaki have taken in their football life: Tsubasa has followed a straightforward path dedicated to football and advancing in levels of competition, while Misaki has had an irregular path in which he barely played football at the same level as the current Tsubasa. Both paths reflect the type of player each of them is: Tsubasa possesses determination and skills while Misaki has been in contact with many, like when he played with Hyuga at Meiwa or Matsuyama at Furano, so he is able to play in combination with anyone, making him a rare and great supporting player. Due to this, Kira comments that he'd rather see them play in combination with their current progress in football to which Katagiri agrees. For the moment, they will enjoy the match and hope that this is the first step towards their new combi play. Back in the match, Payol blocks Nakayama shoot, and, in the counterattack, Tsubasa scores with his Drive Shoot. Misaki, instead of getting worried, is happy, as he is having fun playing with Tsabasa on the field, whether as an opponent or a rival. During the match, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard asks if he can make an offer for Misaki. After the match, Misaki finds the answer that he was looking for, and has decided to go to Europe, to compete against Tsubasa in the Champions League. Gallery Weekly Young Jump 2004 34.jpg|Cover of Weekly Young Jump #34 (2004) where the first part was originally published Weekly Young Jump 2004 35.jpg|Cover of Weekly Young Jump #35 (2004) where the second part was originally published External links *Report of the real-life match at China Daily Category:Manga Category:Manga short-stories